In need of knowlege

JatesAugust 28, 2012

Need an bit of expert advice. I've been looking around on the web for a stylish plant to adorn my house with and have come across the sansevieria. While looking through the multitude of pictures, I found this plant. It's labeled as a Sans. Cylindrica "Skyline". See attached Picture.

This plant from Cactuscenter.com and is exactly what I'm looking for. I need some help determining what plant I should buy to get as close to the picture as I can. Currently looking for a strong robust plant -Not a fan of the long thin wormy looking ones. I understand that everything starts out small and it may take years to reach this point. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

Jates,
Welcome, you came to the right place. First this plant is not cheap and needs a lot of light. The Sansevieria trifasciata is sold in almost all stores. I have seen nice two feet tall 8" pots of them for about $12 or so. They can take all the abuse you can thro at them. Just don't overwater or freeze them. You are in zone 4 and these plants don't demand a lot of light. They also remove house toxins including radon gas. So how good is that? Look at below post and see what kind you see and like.

Thank you for the response Stush. I was hoping that maybe you knew the Species or the variety. Ive been looking around on the web for days, for a plant similar to the picture but have been unsuccessful. Any more information would be great!

Thanks for your input nil. I was just worried that the picture that I displayed may be an odd sub species of the Skyline. Also, Thanks for the suggestion. That's a great plant and exactly what I'm looking for.

Are you new to plants? Have you ever grown a Sansevieria (Sans.) before? I'm guessing not & would suggest you start w/ a plain, garden variety, yellow striped, cheap one first. Sans. aren't the most obvious plants on how to grow, when they want water & when not.

A plant like you've pictured likely will take a decade or 2 to get that big & will cost a pretty penny.

If it were me, I'd try to grow a cheapy first, see how that went before I spend big money on an more exotic plant.

What part of the US are you in? Will you be growing indoors or outdoors? All of these issues are relevant to your question.

Hi PG. To answer your questions... 1) not new to plants. Had many backyard gardens that I tended to growing up. Tilling, pollinating, fertilizing, and harvesting. even canned veggies with my Great Grandma. 2) my parents had a Regular Snake plant in their Living room. Never payed it much attention. Had no idea what this plant family had to offer.

Referring to my first post-- "I understand that everything starts out small and it may take years to reach this point." I'm not foolish to think I'll have instant gratification. Though I'm not an expert, I've spent about 60 hours in the past 8 days reading blogs, Plant nursery recommendations, and other sites. I'm not going into this blindly.

I have a cheapy bunch of Snake plants in my Living room right now. Had em for about 4 months. Haven't killed em yet, and don't plan to! Oddly enough, these "cheap" 19 dollar Sans that I purchased at Home Depot were more expensive than the S. Cylindrica that I bought for 8 dollars.

3) Currently residing in the middle of New Hampshire (So north East US). 4)We have some pretty harsh winters, but these plants will be indoors. I have some rather large windows on the East and west sides of my condo that will be great homes to my plants.

What I am looking for are Names of Sans Like the one in the pictures above. I found Sansevieria fischeri (Hedaru, Tanzania) on AridLands.com, BUT I know there are more out there similar to it. I just don't know what their names are! That is what I am looking for.

Ill post some pictures of my new sans Later tonight. Thanks again to everyone for their advice.

Good that you answered some of the Qs, it may help folks make suggestions for you.

I agree Jakes it looks fine now. But unless the roots are large, that pot may be too big for it.

It's winter that can be the dicey time for these; balancing btwn underwatering & not letting them get too dry (& die off). If' that's a gritty mix, it may be just fine. If that's top dressing, then it'd depend on what type of mix is underneath (as to the risk of rot).

I've been growing Sans. for over 10 yrs. now & I still lose a few from time to time. Just didn't want you to lose your money. Since you're not new to this, best of luck w/ it.

Sorry I can't really help you w/ Sans names, tho' I grow a lot of them, I'd not great at their names.

The mix below the top 1/4 inch is 50% perlite (in lieu of pumice), 25% cactus mix, and 25% pebble. The cactus mix is not entirely organic, but I was going for increased drainage over keeping the potting mix too wet. The rhizome on this little plant is about 3 inches long with a mass of roots about 3 inches long in all directions.

Any ideas if there are water sensors out there that would be good to use to track the hydration of the soil? I've read some reviews on amazon about these little gadgets but am not entirely sold on them.